OSCILLATORY EXCHANGE COUPLING DEPENDING ON BOTH THICKNESSES IN FACE-CENTERED (001)-D(1)-CO/D(2)-CU MULTILAYERS

By ab initio LMTO calculations in the atomic sphere approximation we study the oscillatory thickness dependence of the exchange coupling between ferromagnetic Co slabs grown epitaxially on the (001) surface of a f.c.c. Cu spacer in a d1-Co/d2-Cu multilayer structure and find not only the well-known oscillations with the spacer thickness d2, but-as a new result-also a pronounced oscillation with the magnetic thickness d1. Thus, the experimentalist should not only vary, as usual, the spacer thickness d2, but also the magnetic thickness d1, when trying to optimize the exchange coupling of the system for applications.